Eight of these countries have seen or are in the midst of a second or third wave of the pandemic. The only other country among the 10 that has suffered a single Covid wave so far is Argentina.
Two or more waves of the pandemic appear to be the norm in countries with significant numbers of infections. In the 15 worst affected countries in the world, all with a case burden of nearly a million or more, Poland is the only other country affected by a single major wave so far.
What is common among India, Argentina and Poland is that in all three countries the first wave of infections peaked relatively late. In India, the peak occurred in mid-September, in Argentina it was in the third week of October, while Poland had its peak in the first week of November.
All other countries had seen Covid cases peaking in August. The United States, by far the worst affected country in the world, is possibly in the middle of a third wave of infections. Its first peak occurred in the second week of April and the second in the third week of July. Thereafter, daily cases fell through the second week of September before climbing sharply again.
In all countries (among the 15 worst) affected by multiple waves, the second wave has been more deadly than the first. The only exception is Brazil, but it is not yet clear whether the second wave in the country is waning or not.
In India, daily cases have dropped to nearly a third of the levels seen during the peak of the pandemic. But with more than 30,000 daily cases still being reported, the danger of a second wave clearly continues to lurk.
On Tuesday, India reported 32,069 new cases of the virus. The count was about 4,000 less than reported the previous Tuesday, indicating the continued drop in cases. Kerala reported the highest number of new cases with 5,032, followed by Maharashtra (4,026), Delhi (3,188) and Bengal (2,941).
The death toll for the day was 404, having crossed the 400 mark after an interval of three days. Delhi recorded the highest deaths of the day at 57, but the death toll in the capital has been gradually declining in sync with the drop in new cases. Maharashtra recorded 53 deaths, the second highest in the country, followed by Bengal (49), Punjab (30) and Uttar Pradesh (23).
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